Railroad-car



(No Medal.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

J. P. BATCHELOR.

RAILROAD OAR. No. 303,791. Patented Aug. 19, 1884.

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J. F. BATOHELOR.

RAILROAD GAR.

Patented Aug. 19, 1884'.

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NiTsn STATES PATENT Trice.

JOSEPH F. BATOHELQR, OF BALTIMORE, lvlAl tYllANl).

RAILROAD-CAR.

L'JPZCIE'ICATIQN forming part of Letters Patent No. 303,791, datedAugust 19, 188 1.

Application filed May 2-1, 1884. (X0 model.)

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Be it known that I, JOSEPH F. BATGHELOR, a. citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in RailroadCars, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in railroad-cars; and it consistsin certain fea tures of construction and combination of parts,hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings hereto annexed, Figure 1 is a side view of a carembodying the in vention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the trucksandconnecting draw-bar. Figs. 3 and 4 are views of the coupler. Fig. 5 is across-section of the draw-bar on line x a:, Fig. 6. Fi 6 is a side viewshowing the king-bolt and its connections. Fig. 7 of king-bolt head.Fig. 8 is a cross-section of the draw-bar on the line 9 y, Fig. 2, andshowing also the center spring.

Two trucks, A, of ordinary or any suitable A car, 13, of usualconstruction, may be used; but as I design making a very long car, Itruss the sides of the car by providing arched braces. (Indicated inFig. 1.) The ends of these braces have their seat near each end of thecar, and the highest part of the arch or curve which they form is at thecenter of the car-that is, midway be tween the ends of the car. Theywill thus operate as a truss to assist in sustaining a long car at thecenter. Ordinary cushions or spring butler-heads, a, are at each end ofthe car. A draw-bar, G, connects the two trucks, and is continuous belowthe car-body from end. to end. A king-bolt, b, is hinged or jointed atZ) to a head, b integral with the draw-bar. The head of the hingbolt,however, may be separate to slide on the drawbar, as seen in Fig. 7, andset by a screw, b. The kingboltenters a bolster, c, or cross beam on thetruck, and the hinge or joint I), at the head of the king-bolt, allowsthe truck to oscillate slightly in the direction of a line extendinglengthwise of the car. A guardplate, (2, having a slot, (1, throughwhich the draw bar 0 passes, is secured at the bottom of the car a shortdistance from each side of the king-bolt head If. Two spiral springs, ce, are about the draw-l.iar-one at each side of is a view of amodification the king-bolt head, and interposed between it and theguardplate d. The continuous drawbar 0 is stationary, and the slot (1,in the guard plate, through which the draw bar passes, allows thecar-body to rise or lower as the springs react or yield under a varyingload; and the car-body is so mounted that it may move endwise over thetrucks, being limited in such movement by the spiral springs andguard-plates. the car-body independent of the trucks is to ease the saidbody from jerks when a train is being stopped by the application of abrake, and when a car is bumped. as in coupling up. When the brakes areapplied to the wheels the forward momentum of the car-body will beexpended by compressing the rear spring, 6'; and in coupling up, if anengine or tra n backs against .the standing ear the front spring, 6,will be compressed.

Springs E, of half-elliptic shape, are cured (see Fig. 2) by elipsf orother means to the truck, and the upward-curved ends of the springs areprovided with rollers 9, which are in contact with the bottom of thecar-body. These rollers are more plainly shown in Fig. 7. The car-body,when moved endwisc, slides over these rollers. Springs of any shape maybe used if they are so arranged with respect to the car-body that thelatter may have endwise movement over them, as described.

The continuous draw-bar is crossed. to pro vent its depression at thecenter by rod 0, suspended below it. The ends of this rod are attachedto the draw-bar near each truck, and at the center, or midway betweenthe trucks, it sags down, as seen in Fig. 1, where it is connected withthe draw-bar above by an iron post, it. A half elliptic spring, E,passes through an opening in the iron post, and is suitably secured.(See Fig. 7 The ends of this spring have rollers g, as before described,and this spring, resting on the continuous draw-bar, sustains the car atthe center.

At each end of the continuous draw-bar O a coupler, F, is attached by apivot, 13, which permits it to have a side movement like otherhook-couplers. A spring, j, bears on the side of the coupler and keepsit normally to one side. The coupler pivoted to a rod, kpwhich isadapted for endwisc movement through a loop, I, on the continuousdrawbar. A spiral This endwise movement of ICU 5 broken lines in Fig. 4.

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this position when the train stops is that upon spring, a, about therod, between the pivoted end of the coupler and the said loop, serves tokeep the coupler projected, as seen in Fig. 3,

but permits it to be retracted, as indicated by The coupler is connectedto the brake mechanism as follows: G designates the air-brake cylinder;II, the rod; I, the brake-lever; O, the rod, which connects one end ofthe brake-lever with the bars which carry the brake-shoes, and p the rodand chain which connect the said brake-lever to the upright brakeshaft,usually turned by hand. All these parts of the brake are of the ordinaryconstruction. A chain, q, connects the I 5 movable rod k, to which thecoupler is attached, to the brakelever I. By the described connection ofthe coupler to the brake-lever it follows that when the brakes areapplied the first effect is to retract the couplersthat is, to draw themin by compressing the spring a. This is done by the piston in thebrakecylinder drawing rod H, which draws the brake-lever I, and, throughthe medium of the chain q, drawing the coupler back. The

5 couplers being thus retracted or drawn back at the time the brakes areapplied results in the ends of the ears being brought close together,whereby when a train comes to a stop by the action of the brakes thecars are in 0 contact just as they would be if the locomotive were toback the train. \Vhen the brakes are released, the spring a, back ofeach coupler, forces the couplers out, thereby producing a slackconnection between each pair of coup- The advantage of having the carsin starting, the locomotive can start easier, be cause at first itstarts the first car only, then the second car, and so on; but I do notherein claim the feature just described, whereby the coupler isconnected to the brake mechanism, as on the first day of July, 188i, Ifiled a separate application for Letters Patent for im provements incar-couplings wherein the said feature is made the subject of claims.

Having described my invention, I claim and D desire to secure by LettersPatent of the United States 1. In a car,the combination of the trucks, acontinuousdraw-bar connecting the trucks, U

and a car-body adapted to move endwise over the trucks and provided at apoint above each truck with a guard-plate, (I, having a vertical slot,(2, through which the continuous drawbar passes, as set forth.

3. In a car, the combination of a king-bolt, a slotted guard-plate, d,secured to the bottom of the car each sideof the king-bolt, a bar passedthrough said slotted plates and attached to the king-bolt, and a spiralspring, a, about the bar at each side of the kingbolt, as set forth.

4. In a car, the combination of the trucks, a continuous draw-barconnecting the trucks, springs, a car-body supported by the springs andadapted to move back and forth endwise,

and a connection, substantially as described, attaching the car-body tothe continuous drawbar, as set forth.

5. In a car, the combination of the trucks, a continuous draw-barconnecting the trucks, a rod, 0, attached to the said draw-bar, andadapted to truss or. support it at the center, a car-body, and means onthe said draw-bar to support the car-body at the center, as set forth.

6. In a car, the combination of the trucks, a continuous draw-barconnecting the trucks, at car-body, and a spring secured on the draw barmidway between the trucks to support the car-body at the center, as setforth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOSEPH F. BATGHELOR.

\Vitnesses:

Tnos. KELL BRADFORD, BERNARD A. ROGGE.

